Today’s Date: 7/4/2019

Show Title: Gallathea

Director: Finch

Assistant Directors: Lauren Carlton and Cortland Nesley

Production Intern: Spencer Cohen (Stage Manager) and Jules Talbot (Dramaturg)

Rehearsal Room: Deming Hall and The Blackfriars

What we did:

As I write this blog post, rehearsal is still underway. The ASCTC has three dress rehearsals in a row tonight at the Blackfriars: first Romeo and Juliet, then Measure for Measure, and finally us. We might actually be rehearsing past midnight. At our usual morning rehearsal, we finalized our costumes and ran through the show pausing only for quick changes to make doubly sure that everyone who needs help dressing backstage has it. In a few hours, we’re going to run our show for the first time on the Blackfriars stage.

Dress rehearsals are usually the point when the show finally feels real. Throughout the rehearsal process our work was private, internal and personal, between cast member and cast member, but it’s about to become public, between actor and audience.

Quick and Quotable

From the play:

Thunder noises! We have a thunder sheet now for our storm!

From the director:

“Breathe.”

—Something actors often forget to do

Production Insights:

This blog is a bit hastily-written, given that 1) we’re in rehearsal until midnight, and 2) I’m actively involved in that rehearsal as the resident intern-turned-actor extraordinaire.

It’s always nerve-wracking to transfer a show from the rehearsal space into the theatre, especially a space with as many quirks and eccentricities as the Blackfriars (I say that lovingly): for example, now that we’re in the space we’ve discovered that our show curtains actually close from the side rather than parting at the middle like the ones we rehearsed with. Tonight we’ll inevitably encounter obstacles, but tonight isn’t about having a perfect, complete piece of art—it’s about figuring things out.